European stocks finish lower after ECB

MADRID (MarketWatch) — European markets finished lower Thursday following gains earlier in the day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi supported the view that rates would stay low in the region while the recovery continued to find its footing.

The ECB and the Bank of England both left monetary policies steady as expected, and the Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP, +0.00%
fell 0.4% to close at 328.41, hovering around five-year highs.

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA
TGS, +0.49%
surged 17% after the Norway-based provider of multi-client geoscience data said net revenues for 2013 will come in higher than expected, at $882 million, due to record-high late sales in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Finnish-based Waertsilae Oyj
WRT1V, +2.39%
jumped 11% after the maker of engines for tankers, cruise and navy ships said it’s no longer in talks about a potential tie-up with Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC
RR., -0.66%

Earlier, stocks rose after ECB President Mario Draghi said at a press conference that the central bank will be ready to act when it believes the inflation outlook is changing for the worse. Data earlier this week showed annual inflation across the euro zone fall further below the ECB’s target in December, while other numbers showed the fastest rise in retail sales in 12 years during November. Watch our Live blog of the ECB press conference

“By and large we don’t see a deflation in the Japanese sense of the 90s,” said Draghi.

“Draghi has once again strengthened his commitment to keeping interest rates low in a bid to quell growing fears that any rise may derail the euro zone’s recovery,” said Max Cohen, financial sales trader at SpreadEx in emailed comments. “The decision to hold the main refinancing rate at 0.25 was completely expected, but Draghi did stress that if the medium-term outlook for inflation worsens, the ECB could cut rates further.”

In the U.K., the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee also held steady on its bond-buying program and key lending rate.

Getty Images

ECB President Mario Draghi pictured on November 21, 2013 in Berlin, Germany.

Peripheral euro-zone markets fared slightly better with shallower losses. The Spain IBEX 35 index
IBEX, -0.75%
declined 0.2% to 10,234.20, while the FTSE MIB Italy index
I945, +0.07%
rose 0.3% to 19,503. Shares of banks were in the driver’s seat as the regions hardest-hit by the crisis attracted renewed interest from investors, who were more convinced of the recoveries as borrowing costs have dropped.

Among other indexes, the German DAX 30
DAX, +0.09%
declined 0.8% to 9,421.61, with Daimler AG
DAI, +0.85%
down 0.1%. Shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co.
FME, +0.16%
gained 1% after it was lifted to neutral from underweight at J.P. Morgan Cazenove. The investment bank raised Fresenius SE
FRE, +0.91%
to overweight from neutral, and shares rose 1.1%. Analysts said the European medical technology and services sector should face fewer headwinds than in 2013.

The French CAC 40 index
PX1, +0.21%
declined 0.8% to 4,225.14, with shares of Alcatel-Lucent among those weighing on the downside.

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